The Conversation
by element90
Summary: Phil and Keely have a discussion under the stars.


The Conversation

"And we are...done!"

Phil slaps the cover of his textbook closed and quickly rises to his feet. He looks down at Keely reclining on the couch. He curtly nods his head in a prideful manner and grins at her. She returns to the gesture.

"What do you say we indulge ourselves in some much earned R and R?"

Keely's head falls back dramatically. "Ugh! Yes!"

Phil extends his hand to her which she gratefully accepts. He pulls her up from the couch and leads her to the kitchen. Keely plops into a chair and leans heavily upon the tabletop as Phil grabs some glasses and the lemonade pitcher from the refridgerator. Keely's eyes drift closed while Phil pours her a glass.

"Would you like this here or in bed?"

Keely opens one eye. "I'm not asleep...I'm just resting my eyes."

Phil regards her suspciously for a moment before sliding the glass her direction. He takes a sip of his own drink and nods toward the backdoor.

"Come on."

Keely sits up more alert now and takes her glass with both hands. "Where're we going?"

Phil walks backwards to the door. "Let's get some fresh air."

Keely complies and follows suit. Outside the door Phil sits on the last step leaving just enough room for her to join him. The air is filled with autumn scents and the sky is an amazing mix of deep sunset oranges, pinks, and reds. A cool yet comfortable breeze floats by as the two leisurely sip their drinks and watch the night shadows creep into the yard.

Phil cuts his eyes over at her. Her head is tilted up just enough to allow her eyes to be lit by the fading sunlight. She watches the sky with a peaceful look upon her face. A few blonde strands escape from her loose ponytail to gracefully curl around her smooth cheek. Phil turns his head as casually as possible to get a better view. He gazes at her with soft intensity and the ghost of a smile upon his lips. Her beauty is simply captivating, and Phil has certainly been caught.

Keely breathes a quiet sigh of content and turns to Phil whose dark eyes remain fixed upon her. Quickly, Phil averts his gaze to the yard as his cheeks redden. He clears his throat and gulps down the rest of his lemonade. Keely presses her lips together to supress a chuckle. She looks away but keeps him in the corner of her eye. After a few seconds, she turns her body to face him as Phil uneasily glances her direction.

"Can I ask you a question?" she says rather nonchalantly.

Phil thoughtfully considers her request. He's a bit hesitant for reasons he's not necessarily sure of, but he decides to go with it.

"I suppose," he says with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

Keely lowers her chin. "Did you have a girlfriend back home?" she asks curiously.

Phil's mind races at the implications of such a question. She awaits his answer expectantly.

He responds carefully, "Not when I left."

Keely's posture relaxes at his reply, which Phil notices with a twinge of pleasure. She raises her eyebrow at him. "But...you have had one, right?"

Phil nods. "Yeah, a few years ago." Keely sips her drink before pressing on. "How old were you?"

"Thirteen."

Keely shifts on the step to turn away from him and sets her eyes upon the darkening yard. Phil raises his eyebrow in confusion at the unexpected query and her sudden curiosity in the history of his love life.

"So...what was she like?" she asks without looking at him as she swirls her glass in her hand distractedly.

Phil's confusion only deepens. He clears his throat again out of uncertainty. "Well, um...she was, you know...a...13-year-old girl," he awkwardly finishes looking down at this shoes in the grass.

Keely rolls her eyes and looks at him with an obvious expression. "But what was she _like? _You know, what made you want to date her?"

Phil sets down his now empty glass in the small space between them and clasps his hand together. "Huh." He looks up at the sky remembering his first and only girlfriend. "Well, she was strong, independent, driven, compassionate-"

Keely's eyes widen as he rattles off the long list of attributes. Phil continues with ease. "And funny, smart, honest, loyal-"

Keely interrupts, "Wow. Is that all?" she asks sarcastically. Phil glances at her and shrugs. "You asked."

Keely furrows her brow. "She sounds pretty much perfect," she states with a hint of disappointment in her voice. Phil doesn't even notice. He shakes his head in the negative. "Nah."

Surprise flashes across her features, but that quickly turns to suspicion. "_No_? Did she have one of those really annoying habits that was like all you could ever focus on?"

Phil scrunches up his nose. "Not really."

Keely looks at him pointedly. "Then what? Why didn't it work out with you two?" Before Phil can answer, she points her finger at him eagerly. "Oh! Did she move far away and even though you'll never see her again you still think of her?"

Phil raises his eyebrow. "No," he says slowly, "she didn't move away." Keely slumps her shoulders in defeat. "And I've not thought of her...well, since now."

Another idea pops into Keely's head as she turns sympathetic eyes on Phil. "Did she cheat on you?" she asks gently as if he might break into. Phil shakes his head. "No."

She narrows her eyes at him accusingly. "Did _you_ cheat on_ her_?" Phil leans back in dismay. "No!"

Keely eases up on him. "Then why'd you break up!" she asks exasperatedly throwing her hands in the air. Phil looks at her with seriousness in his dark eyes. "No chemistry. No connection. No...anything really."

Keely refuses to believe his reasons. "Really? Not even with such a great girl?" Phil shakes his head.

"Gee, Phil, what's it_ take_?" she asks in frustration.

Phil looks out at the blackness that has managed to settle in during their conversation. The brilliant hues of the sunset have faded to deep purple as the first stars twinkle brightly overhead. A warm glow from the kitchen light illuminates the two friends just enough for them to see each other in the night. He stares at the outline of the backyard fence and the trees there and sighs as the real answer to her question screams inside of his head demanding to be let loose.

"She just wasn't the one for me. No matter how great she was...something...that _thing_ was never there," he says honestly.

Keely tries to be understanding, but she can't help wondering if Phil truly knew what he was talking about. "Maybe you don't know what that _thing_ is," she offers.

Phil's a bit hurt by her disregard for his confession and her lack of confidence in him. He knows she's wrong, but should he tell her so? Taking a deep, silent breath he turns to meet her without any fear or doubt.

"I do know," he says with quiet determination trying to make her understand, but Keely continues on without recognizing the true meaning behind his words. "So, you've felt it before," she states plainly and unemotionally.

Phil holds back a wince. "Yes," he replies barely above a whisper. But Keely remains clueless. "When?" she asks in a voice mixed with confusion and disbelief.

Phil straightens his spine and rolls his shoulders back a tad uncomfortble with where the conversation is going. All that fearlessness and certainty he thought he had just a minute ago has completely disappeared.

"Um...well..." Keely eyes him impatiently as he struggles to find the words. "Well...yesterday, actually," he finally blurts out leaving Keely a little bewildered. "_Yesterday_? With who?" she demands.

Suddenly, a spark of confidence shoots through Phil, and the thought of admitting his feelings without hesitency becomes less frightening. He continues on despite her utter shock and perplexion with a slightly sneaky grin.

"And the day before that and the day before that and-"

Keely interjects with irritation written all over her face. "Phil!" But he just keeps on going.

"And everyday for about the last two years," he finishes feeling satisfied with himself. Keely simply stares at him with a blank look. Phil smirks. She doesn't have a clue...yet.

"_And_...," Phil says in her silence, "I'm still feeling it...right now."

The impact of what he just voiced hits Phil full-force squarely in the heart. He swallows the lump beginning to form in his throat trying hard to not let his nerves get the best of him, but Keely's non-response is starting to have that exact effect. Even the shadows of the night can't hide him from her penetrating stare. Phil shifts nervously on the step and once again finds interest in his shoes. After what he could've swore was an eternity, Keely's raised hands draw his attention.

"What does that mean?" she asks accentuating each word with a confused expression upon her face.

Phil briefly shuts his eyes and mentally curses himself for thinking she'd actually grasped the meaning behind his little admission. He's overwhelmed with an urgent need to distance himself from her close proximity so he stands up abruptly and walks a little ways out into the yard. He stands with his back toward her and his hands on his hips looking up at the dazzling display of lights above.

Keely studies him curiously, but remains on the step just waiting for some kind of response from him. Several seconds creep by before Phil turns back to look at her. He appears amused. Keely squints her eyes at him through the darkness as he hangs his arms loosely at his sides.

"You know something, Keel," he says in a light voice. "You're a lot like her." He doesn't really know how or why the thought occurred to him out of the blue like that, and Keely seems equally puzzled. "You're ex?"

Phil nods and moves a couple steps closer to her. "Uh huh, very similar." He tilts his head and gives her a thorough once-over. "Of course you two look nothing alike...she had a dark complexion and really long dark brown hair and dark eyes and-"

Keely cuts him off by holding up her hand. "I think I get the picture," she says a tad more angry than she'd meant to sound, but something about the way Phil compared her to his ex-girlfriend didn't sit so well with her.

"Really?" Phil asks innocently with a little gleam of mischief in his eyes. Her obvious irritation rings a few bells in his head.

Keely shrugs trying to appear as if nothing happened. "Yeah," she says casually, "so she was a hottie, huh? Gorgeous and all that?" She tries to seem only minorly interested.

Phil hides a grin and stuffs his hands into his jeans pockets. "Eh, she was alright...not the best I've seen."

Keely lowers her eyes. "But...that's the type you're attracted to?" she questions in a tone Phil's not so familiar with coming from her. She seems almost... "Dark, exotic beautiful girls?" she asks weakly keeping her eyes hidden from him.

Phil feels a tug in his chest as the uneasiness returns. "Not really," he says trying to stay steady. "I'm not really attracted to any sort of 'type' really. I like to be more specific," he says hoping to ease some of her worries...assuming she has some.

Keely lifts her head to look at him. She's just gotta know. "Specific like what?" she asks as her curiosity overtakes her.

Phil's heart begins to beat faster as the reality of the inevitable sinks in. He raises his eyebrow. "You really wanna know?" he teases.

Keely's a little unsure about the way he's watching her now. Phil's given her a lot of looks over the course of their friendship, but she's fairly certain this look is unprecendented. More than a handful of guys have had that exact same expression in her presence, and she's well aware of what _they _were thinking but...

Phil takes a small step toward her. "This might be a limited-time offer, Keel," he says jokingly, but then he contemplates the fact that that might actually be true. Fortunately before his fear returns, Keely stands up and places her hands into the pockets of her orange hoodie.

"Alright...I want to know, ok? You got me."

Phil's breath catches in his throat and his mouth goes completely dry. The words that have stopped dead in their tracks behind his lips suddenly don't seem like a good idea to speak aloud. He had every intention of telling her exactly what he was attracted to, but now that he's standing merely a few feet from her as she watches him with those amazing eyes...

"Phil?" she asks softly with a hint of concern in her smooth voice.

Phil blinks slowly and deliberately and prepares to dive in despite the ill feeling deep within him.

"Look in the mirror, Keely," he says affectionately without too much quiver in his voice.

Her expression falls and Phil can't read what's there. Out of nervousness, Phil licks his lips, but still Keely doesn't move...she doesn't even twitch.

Phil bows his head slightly to look up at her through his thick lashes. "Is that specific enough for you?...'Cause it works really well...for me," he says timidly. Keely finally shows some sign of life as her eyes drop to the ground. Phil feels his heart drop like lead to his stomach.

"Are you-" she swallows nervously and tries again. "Are you saying...that I'm-"

"Extraordinarily beautiful?"

Keely's head snaps up to look at him. Her expression is one of pure shock.

Phil rides the wave of confidence washing over him. "Yes...that's exactly what I'm saying."

"I...uh..." Keely can't quite catch ahold of the thoughts swimming through her head.

Phil breathes in deep. "Well, now you know," he offers meekly.

Keely's eyes travel around the yard absent-mindedly as she rocks on her heels. "Um...thanks?" she says awkwardly for the lack of anything else to speak to him at the moment.

Phil chuckles. "You're welcome."

Keely laughs and hangs her head in embarrassment. After a beat, Phil slowly approaches her before coming to a halt only a couple of steps in front of her. Keely toes a patch of dirt rather than look at him.

"I don't know how you feel about me, Keel, but I know this much...I discovered that _thing.._.the day I met you."

Everything has never been so quiet as it is in this moment. The entire world fades away as the truth is finally revealed. Phil's pulse races as he anxiously awaits her move. And when she does react...he's not prepared for it.

Keely slowly raises her head to meet his gaze. The soft light surrounding them reflects off her shimmering eyes. Phil is stunned by the honesty expressed in her beautiful face and by the pure and powerful love shinning in her brilliant smile.

"I...felt it too...whatever _it_ is...I feel it still," she whispers to him.

A warmth previously unknown spreads through him radiating out into the October night air. He grins with boyish joy. "It's the connection," he says softly. Keely nods in agreement. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

Phil glances up at the night sky with absolute happiness on his face. "You know...," he looks back at Keely, "at first I thought I'd just met the best friend I've ever known...but it's more than that."

Against any conscious effort, his feet bring him a single step closer to her. "I'm in love with you," he says as if it's the most comfortable thing in the world to him.

"You are?" she asks. Phil frowns. "You seem surprised," he says with disappointment. He was positive that had already been established and understood...and reciprocated.

"Well, I gotta admit...I have been a tiny bit suspcious."

Phil scoffs. "A tiny bit, huh? Please, Keel, I've been painfully obvious on numerous occasions...and I _thought _I've been pretty blunt this evening."

Keely laughs and shakes her head. "I guess I'm just surprised to hear the words come out of your mouth."

Phil nods in understanding. "That makes two of us."

Keely grins and shrugs her shoulders. "So...what now?"

Phil rolls his eyes playfully. "Well, I think the ball's in _your_ court."

Keely accepts that eagerly. "I'm in love with you too," she says with ease.

Phil smiles. "I like that."

"Me too," Keely agrees, but then doubt covers her features as a thought smacks her right between the eyes. "But...what happens when you leave?"

That single question zaps every bit of happiness right out of Phil. He knew that saying goodbye to his best friend ever was going to be heartbreaking but...saying goodbye to the love of his life would be excruciatingly painful.

But then again...he'd recently just become sure of something else that would keep any of that from being an issue.

"I don't think I'm leaving," he says to Keely with 100 confidence.

Keely looks away. "Well, maybe not tomorrow or even next week but-"

Phil interrupts her with fierce determination. "No, Keel, I mean I'm not leaving...ever."

"But when your dad fixes the th-"

Phil cuts her off again. "He won't," he says firmly.

Keely's clearly confused. "What do you mean?"

"I don't believe he's supposed to," Phil says assuredly.

Keely struggles to comprehend. "Like he _shouldn't_ fix it?"

Phil shakes his head. "No. Like he _can't_."

Keely furrows her brow. "Because you guys wanna stay?" she asks trying to grasp Phil's concept.

Phil runs a hand through his hair and walks in a small circle. He rubs the back of his neck tiredly and looks up at the stars for some help. Keely just watches him. Staring at the bright lights buring over a million miles away, Phil suddenly finds the inspiration he needs to make Keely understand. He turns to her quickly.

"Do you believe in fate?"

She looks at him like he's grown a second head. Phil begins to feel a tad self-conscious.

"Fate," she states evenly.

Phil steps forward using grand hand gestures to convey his message. "Destiny, you know, things that happen for no other reason other than they're just _meant_ to?"

Keely regards him quietly for a beat. "You think your dad's fated to _not_ fix the time machine."

Phil nods in approval as she finally hits the nail on the head. He begins pacing back and forth in front of her.

"Everything about this whole thing is fate. I mean, my dad renting a used time machine, my family deciding to take a vacation , landing here in this time and place out of an infinite number of possibilities, and _come on_, I even tried to prevent all of this by dropping that _stupid_ letter into the time capsule which _obviously_ my dad never found."

Keely watches him closely trying to keep on track with his train of thought, but that last statement throws her right off. "Huh?" she asks more confused at this point than any other in what is turning out to be a very long night. But Phil ignores her and continues his ranting.

"I can't help but feel that we're _supposed_ to be here, I mean _right here_. There's a method to this madness." He stops his pacing and looks at Keely as a the proverbial lightbulb switches on. He observes her with sharp clarity taking his time to absorb all things Keely.

"There's a reason," he says more to himself than her, but she hears him nevertheless.

She sighs and shrugs rather solemnly. "But maybe after you've served whatever purpose the universe has for you to be here...you'll be gone."

Phil frowns and holds up his hand in protest. "No, I believe I was meant to find you. Look at the way we even became friends," he says waving his hand between them, "That wasn't just an accident or some ordinary coincidence or some random act...it's all too intricately intertwined for that. No, something bigger than you and me has _designed_ this, Keel."

Keely tucks the loose strand of hair behind her ear and looks away. "I don't know, Phil."

"You don't believe we're meant to be together?" he asks broken-heartedly.

"I just-" Keely looks up at the celestial expanse above her wondering if there really is something bigger up there controlling their lives. She frowns at the night sky and turns back to Phil in annoyance. "Believing that fate stuck us together kinda zaps all the romance right out of things."

Phil laughs. "Come on, Keel, what's more romantic than a love written in the stars?" he says gesturing above them.

Keely crosses her arms over her chest defensively. "How about the fact that it's not unique or special considering that if our love is predetermined than the same must be true of every single couple past, present, and future. I'm sorry, Phil, but I refuse to believe that life is fixed and we're all just slaves to some master plan."

Phil opens his mouth to speak, but Keely denies him any such allowance. "And how about free will?"

"Wha...?" Phil stumbles over his incoherent words with a dumb expression on his face.

Keely presses on despite his lack of comprehension. She points at Phil. "I choose you, Phil, and you choose me." She scoffs. "You broke up with whatever-her-name-is because you chose to not 'cause of some invisible cosmic force making the decision for you in advance."

"But I _do_ choose you, Keely," he pleads.

Keely waves off his attempts to reassure her. "No, if fate crash-landed you here in the 21st century, in Pickford, in _my_ algebra class...you're just playing along. And me too. And everyone for that matter."

Phil shakes his head. "But no matter what my dad's done to that piece of junk scrap metal for the past two years hasn't gotten us home."

Keely shrugs. "A series of mistakes and unfortunate events."

Phil snaps his fingers and raises his eyebrow. "Or fate."

Keely shoves her hands back into her jacket pockets. "So fate keeps you here..to what? Love me?"

"Fate _put_ me here so I _could_ love you," Phil immediately corrects her.

Keely drops her eyes to the ground. "So if not for fate...then you _wouldn't_ love me?" she asks in a small voice.

Phil instantly counters the dangers of such a thought before she has time to weigh the implications. "No, no, no, Keel, you don't get what I'm saying."

Keely nods and glances at the steps behind her before lowering herself to sit upon them. She props her chin up with her hands as she rests her elbows on her demin clad knees. "You're right about _that_," she says expelling a warm breath into the crisp air.

Phil closes his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts and try to sort through all the emotions coarsing throughout his body. He rubs his eyes and squints at the illuminated digital readout on his watch. The night ticks on by without any concern for his current dilemma. He looks back up at Keely to find her picking at the long blades of grass growing at the bottom step. He puts his hands into his pockets and slowly approaches her.

"Keel...I was born in a time where you don't exist," he says to her softly. She looks up at him with the slightest tilt her head with a 'well, duh' expression on her face. Phil worries his bottom lip trying to find a way to explain what he needs to get across to her.

"The fates messed up? That's your big explanation?" she asks staring at him without a hint of emotion.

Phil winces and kneels down in front of her on one knee to meet her eye-to-eye. "Time has kept us apart, but fate brought us together," he tells her in a gentle voice.

Keely nods slowly beginning to see his point. "And the rest is up to us?" she asks hopefully.

"Yes." Phil smiles. "Fate's pretty good, but _we_ had to make the move."

Keely tilts her head thinking she's figured it all out finally. "We had to decide to fall in love."

Phil takes her hand in his with loving tenderness. "No, Keely, we got to to _decide_ how and when to tell each other...but falling in love in the first place...that wasn't a conscious effort on our parts...at least not for me."

Keely's smile quickly fades. "So it was fate?" she asks rolling her eyes in irritation at the idea.

Phil looks down at their joined hands as his thumb draws tiny circles over the back of hers. He smiles at the sight and looks up to her with warmth in his brown eyes. Keely stares into their depths completely mesmerized by him.

"No. It's souls making the connection...hearts feeling _that thing_," he whispers.

An involuntary shiver travels up her spine as his words vibrate throughout her body. She holds his gaze for several seconds before looking down at his hand cradling her own.

"But fate's gonna keep us together?" she asks unsure of what role the universe plays now that the love connection's been made.

Phil releases her hand and straightens his back. "Fate...will give us the opportunity and the option for forever. I think that fate wants us to be in love, but I think staying together is for you and me to...choose," he finishes with a sly smile.

Keely grins and nods happily. "I like that." She glances up at the heavens. "I believe that."

Phil rises to a standing position and looks down at her with a hint of uncertainty despite how far they've come tonight. "So..."

Keely raises her eyebrows. "Well...I would hate to disappoint fate after all the trouble to get us here...," she says with a wink.

"Will you be my girlfriend, Keely?" Phil asks in a serious voice even as his eyes light up in delight.

"Hmm...let me _decide_," she teases him. "Yes!"

Phil playfully wipes the back of his hand across his forehead as if he doubted her answer. A light wind sweeps across the backyard rustling the scattered leaves along the ground as they both grin goofily at each other.

"Well, I should probably let you get home, huh?" Phil offers her a hand up from the step, but he doesn't let go. Instead he leads her to the gate and holds it open for her, but Keely stops places her palm to her forehead. "I forgot my book." She moves to retrieve it from inside the house, but Phil gently pulls her back to his side. She casts a questioning look his way.

"I'll bring it to school for you," he offers. Keely shrugs her indifference and heads out the gate tugging Phil along behind her.

As they walk down the sidewalk holding hands the short distance to Keely's house in comfortable silence, Keely glances sideways at Phil.

"I think the fates are smiling."

Phil glances up. "I think they're breathing a sigh of relief."

He looks over at Keely and grins. "Can you imagine how frustrating it must've been to watch _this_ for the last _two years_?"

Keely laughs. "Yeah...I wonder what they'll be like in a year's time or five years? Or the rest of our lives?" she asks not really expecting a reply.

"Well, if it's for _me_ to _choose_...," Phil nudges her side gently, "I'd say they'll be very pleased."

She blinks to keep joyful tears from falling as he softly squeezes her hand while the stars overhead twinkle with delight.


End file.
